Signing of former Patriot Jarrad Page turned out to be a big deal for Eagles

By PAUL DOMOWITCH | | Philadelphia Daily News

Friday

Aug 26, 2011 at 12:01 AM

PHILADELPHIA — If you blinked, you might have missed Jarrad Page’s signing with the Eagles this month.

PHILADELPHIA - If you blinked, you might have missed JarradPage's signing with the Eagles this month.

The 26-year-old safety agreed to terms with the team the sameday as running back Ronnie Brown and offensive tackle Ryan Harrisand only three days after the Utah Beach landing of NnamdiAsomugha, Jason Babin, Johnnie Lee Higgins, Donald Lee and VinceYoung.

Page was the "in other news" signing that day. Brown and Harrisboth were brought to the media tent at Lehigh the next day formeet-and-greets with reporters. Page? Uh, he's over there ifanybody needs to talk him.

Three weeks later, Page's signing could end up being thethird-most significant acquisition of the summer by the Eagles,behind only Asomugha and Babin.

Harris, who was brought in to fix the leak at right tackle,lasted one preseason game before injuring his back. He's missed thelast two preseason games, including Thursday night's 24-14 win overthe Browns, and has made only one practice appearance. Right now,his chances of being any kind of a pass-protection factor thisseason are slim.

Brown was a good get and gives the Eagles needed depth atrunning back. He rushed for 41 yards and a touchdown on six carriesThursday and had three receptions for 15 yards. But he will getlimited touches behind LeSean McCoy.

As for Page, right now, it looks as if he will be the Eagles'starting strong safety in two weeks when they open the seasonagainst the St. Louis Rams. That was supposed to be Nate Allen'sjob. But the 2010 second-round pick, who started 13 games as arookie, still isn't all the way back from the ruptured patellartendon he suffered last December.

Allen struggled mightily in the Eagles' second preseason gameagainst Pittsburgh. This week, he and Page began exchangingfirst-team reps in practice.

Thursday, Page started against the Browns and played the entirefirst half. He was part of an impressive defensive effort that heldthe Browns to six first downs and 103 net yards in the firsthalf.

"I didn't see anything that jumped out at me that he didn't dowell, as far as a critical error," coach Andy Reid said ofPage.

The 6-foot, 225-pounder twice made nice stops on Peyton Hillis,the Browns' 6-2, 250-pound Mack truck of a running back. He gotturned around in coverage once by tight end Evan Moore, butrecovered sufficiently to deflect the pass from quarterback ColtMcCoy.

"It felt good to get some action and fly around and do somethings," Page said. "I thought I played pretty well. But I'm verycritical of myself. I know there are some things I could've donebetter. But overall, I thought things went well."

Page said he hasn't had too much difficulty picking up theEagles' defensive system, despite not joining the team until a weekinto training camp.

"I've been able to pick things up fairly quickly," he said."Defensive systems are somewhat similar. The things that aredifferent are the terminology and the little tweaks as far as theway you play certain things.

"My experience in the league has helped me a lot to be able tograsp what's going on and how we're doing it."

Page signed a one-year deal with the Eagles after spending lastseason with the New England Patriots. A seventh-round pick of theKansas City Chiefs in 2006, Page started 32 games for the Chiefs in'07 and '08.

But he fell into disfavor with new head coach Todd Haley fivegames into the '09 season. Got into an argument with Haley over histreatment of players and was promptly put on injured reserve with anonexistent calf injury, which was intended to send a message tothe rest of the team.

A restricted free agent last summer, Page asked to be traded andheld out of training camp. After he signed his tender offer, theChiefs traded him to the Patriots, where he spent the year backingup starters Brandon Merriweather and Patrick Chung and playingspecial teams.

"Jarrad is very physical, very smart," said Bill Kuharich, whowas the Chiefs' player personnel chief when the club drafted him."He has tremendous ball skills.

"If there's a chink in his armor, he sometimes anticipates tooquickly, and that gets him in trouble. Especially in play-action.Because he's such a physical guy and likes contact, he'll getcaught at times. That said, looking at the safeties the Eagles haveon their roster, he's better than all of them. It's not evenclose."

Page played baseball and football at UCLA. He was the Bruins'starting centerfielder and was drafted three times to play baseball- by Milwaukee in 2002, Colorado in '05 and the Angels in '06.

"His draft stock dropped because of baseball," Kuharich said."He was a really good baseball player. Nobody had a timed speed onhim because he was never in spring ball. No one was quite sure howcommitted he was to playing football."

Ultimately, he became very committed. He passed on baseball andsigned with the Chiefs, who got a seventh-round bargain, andnotched 10 interceptions in his first three seasons there.

"He's a very good player," said Herm Edwards, who was theChiefs' head coach for Page's first three years in Kansas City."You can put him out in space where he can cover a tight end. He'sdone that. He can also play in the box.

"When he just reacts to the football and plays the ball, that'swhat he does best. He can really play the football. He's got goodhands. He really has the body type to play linebacker, but he canplay the safety position. He's got good range when he's in themiddle of the field."

Edwards was a player's coach. His replacement, Haley, came inwith a dictatorial style that rubbed a lot of players, includingPage, the wrong way.

At a team meeting during the Chiefs' bye week in 2009, Haleytold the players that anybody who wanted to talk to him should cometo his office and see him. Page did, and their discussion quicklydisintegrated into a shouting match.

"I think it was more of a personality deal," Edwards said."Sometimes that happens. Jarrad's a very smart guy. He's going toask questions. Sometimes, that just doesn't work out for somereason or another."

It could end up working out just great for the Eagles.

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